Prosecutors clearly don’t see it that way. She went to Washington, Siniff insisted, not to undermine democracy but to protect people who believed the election had been stolen from Trump and to maintain order during the rally and protests. Siniff, who is 30 and runs the Jolly Roger bar with Watkins, said his girlfriend is a patriotic veteran and small business owner whose livelihood was crushed by pandemic lockdowns and had started the Ohio State Regular Militia because she wanted to help her community. “Charges of seditious conspiracy,” said Siniff, his voice breaking. An hour’s drive away in Woodstock, her boyfriend rejected the suggestion that she’s anti-government or violent. Watkins is currently detained in the Montgomery County jail in Dayton and could not be reached for comment. Using an app that allows for radio-style communication, her compatriots cheered her on as she strode through the building. 6, Watkins penetrated the nation’s Capitol in a bulletproof vest, fatigues bearing Oath Keeper insignias, and goggles to protect her eyes from tear gas. By the fall, she was answering a call from the Oath Keepers to travel to Washington, DC, in support of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Last summer, the small paramilitary group Watkins formed, the Ohio State Regular Militia, was patrolling Louisville amid protests over the police killing of Breonna Taylor. As the pandemic wore on and cities across the country convulsed with protests over lockdowns and police shootings of unarmed Black people, she was rapidly drawn into the orbit of the Oath Keepers, which prosecutors describe as a “large but loosely organized collection of militia” whose members believe the government is trying to strip citizens of their rights. Watkins, Siniff said, began 2020 hopeful about the bar she’d rechristened the Jolly Roger, but COVID put her business in a perilous state. As described by Siniff, it all happened very quickly. But the forces that propelled her onto the FBI’s radar have become increasingly familiar: a caustic stew of misinformation spread on conspiratorial websites, aggressive boosterism and logistical support from right-wing extremist groups, and the collision of a global pandemic with last summer’s Black Lives Matters protests. Watkins’ journey from decorated Army vet and well-regarded volunteer firefighter to alleged insurrectionist would seem, at first glance, unlikely. But her longtime boyfriend, Montana Siniff, gave BuzzFeed News a series of interviews that fill in the blanks on much of her life, and especially the last tumultuous year. What little is known about Watkins has largely been culled from social media and a single interview she gave earlier this month. On Wednesday afternoon, Watkins, along with two others who were with her in the Capitol, Donovan Crowl and Thomas Caldwell, were indicted by a federal grand jury on four charges, including trespassing, obstruction of an official proceeding, and, most seriously, conspiracy to “stop, delay, and hinder Congress's certification of the Electoral College vote” of Joe Biden as president. Watkins, 38, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who has for the past two years run a bar in the small village of Woodstock, Ohio, is facing some of the most serious charges yet filed from the mob insurrection that left five people dead and sent members of Congress fleeing for their lives early this month.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |